General Tso's Chicken
Double-fried crispy chicken thighs tossed in a glossy sweet, tangy and gently spicy sauce with dried chiles, garlic and ginger.
By Marisol Vance, Founder & Head of Recipe Development
Published July 22, 2025
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 25 min
- Total
- 50 min
- Servings
- 4
- Level
- Medium
General Tso's chicken is the takeout order everyone secretly loves, and making it at home means the coating stays crackly instead of going soft in a container. A light marinade with egg white and cornstarch gives the chicken a thin, crisp shell, and a quick second fry at a higher temperature locks in the crunch.
The sauce is balanced rather than cloying: soy sauce for depth, rice vinegar for tang, a little hoisin for body and just enough sugar to make it glossy. Dried red chiles bloomed in the oil add fragrance and a gentle heat you can dial up or down.
Toss the chicken in the sauce right before serving and pile it over steamed white rice with broccoli on the side.
- Double-fried for lasting crunch
- Balanced glossy sauce
- Better than takeout
Ingredients
Directions
Toss the chicken with 1 tbsp of the soy sauce, the Shaoxing wine and the egg white until coated. Let it sit for 15 minutes.
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